Secret Service Builds $400M Crypto Cold Wallet in Decade-Long Scam Crackdown

The United States Secret Service has quietly accumulated a massive crypto cold wallet valued at nearly $400 million through decades‘ worth of systematic confiscation from international internet crime rings.

It amassed the cache in the last decade, gradually seizing assets in schemes which duped victims through fictitious investment websites, sextortion efforts, and romance schemes.

A Decade of Digital Seizures

While the Secret Service may be best known for protecting presidents, its understated role in combating financial crime has increased exponentially in the age of crypto. Its Global Investigative Operations Centre (GIOC) has been key in tracking and seizing criminal cryptocurrency funds. 

Through the use of blockchain forensics, open-source intelligence, and digital forensic tracking, the agency has tracked stolen funds as far away as Europe, Africa, and Asia from North America.

Training the World to Fight Crypto Crime

Under the leadership of Crypto Strategy Director Kali Smith at the agency, the Secret Service has intensified its efforts overseas. Over 60 countries have utilized its training exercises, which teach indigenous authorities how to track, freeze, and recover cryptocurrencies.

These actions target jurisdictions with weak regulatory systems or golden visa programs—favorite tools used by thieves for laundering money with crypto assets. Its founders believe that there must be wide interagency collaboration, especially in light of the borderless nature of crypto finance.

The Figures: Billions Taken in Crypto Scamming

The scale of the problem is enormous. According to FBI figures, Americans reported $9.3 billion in losses resulting from crypto scams in 2024 alone, which represents more than half of the $16.6 billion in damages incurred during 2024 as a result of internet crime.

For the first half of 2025 alone, losses resulting from hacks, scams, and exploits across the globe have reached $2.47 billion. This represents a 3% increase during the same period as the previous year, indicating that better-equipped and more advanced fraudsters are emerging.

Private Partnerships Drive Recovery Efforts

The Secret Service is not doing it alone. It has collaborated with major cryptocurrency institutions, such as Coinbase and Tether, through which it has been able to track and freeze stolen funds. In one publicized case, $225 million in stolen USDT from romance scams was recovered as a result of joint efforts between cryptocurrency institutions and law enforcement.

Such partnerships are now increasingly viewed as crucial in recovering stolen cryptocurrency assets and in apprehending individuals involved in criminal activities.

A New Age in Crypto Enforcement

While digital finance itself continues to expand and evolve, so too has the Secret Service’s crime-fighting methodology. Once a modest unit operating in the space of internet fraud investigation, it has now evolved into a worldwide operation managing one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency seizure wallets. Its $400 million cold wallet represents not only enforcement achievement but also the future face of 21st-century financial security.

Through blockchain analysis, global alliances, and private sector collaboration, the Secret Service is placing itself at the forefront of crypto enforcement globally.